Warhammer Quest: The Wardancer
by T. Jordan "Greywolf" Peacock
9 AUG 95
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The following is a home-made profession for _Warhammer Quest_, based upon
the Wardancer Henchman from _Advanced HeroQuest_ and the Wood Elf warrior type
from _Warhammer Fantasy Battle_. Actually, this is the first home-made
profession that I put together, and also one of the most "play-tested" through
actual use, though I never got around to posting a complete article for this
profession before now.
The Wardancer is, of course, very closely akin to the Elf character,
sharing many of the same abilities, as both are Wood Elves. However, the
Wardancer foregoes training in the use of the bow and in defensive capability,
focusing more on the use of hand-to-hand weaponry.
As with other creations of mine, this is, of course, simply a home-made
profession, and by no means official. In fact, I have heard that at some time
in the future a Wardancer Warrior Pack is indeed planned, which will of course
render this obsolete in such an event. In the meantime, though, this has
provided an interesting acrobatic Warrior-type that works well in a number of
different Warrior parties.
-*- THE WARDANCER -*-
Among the Wood Elves of the forests of Loren are a select group of warrior-
troubadours known as the Wardancers. They are exceptionally agile and graceful
Elves whose endurance surpasses even that of others of their ancient race,
capable of amazing, acrobatic feats.
They have a unique style of combat that combines the grace and beauty of
dance with deadly precision, unnerving their opponents as they bound and leap
into combat. They do not train in the use of the bow as most Wood Elves do,
but make up for this with their mastery of hand-to-hand combat techniques.
Wardancers are rare among the ranks of adventurers, for they are more at
home in the forests of Loren, seeing action mostly on open battlefields, acting
as part of a larger troupe. However, some among their number have reason to
use their skill within the depths of the dungeons beneath the earth in order to
battle the forces of Chaos, to recover lost treasures, and to discover what
secrets might be found below.
-*- WARDANCER STATISTICS -*-
Wounds: 1D6+7
Move: 4
Weapon Skill: 4
Ballistic Skill: 6+
Strength: 3
Toughness: 3
Initiative: 6
Attacks: 1
Equipment: Healing Potion.
Weapon: Sword, causing 1D6+3 Wounds
Armour: None.
Pinning: The Wardancer can never be pinned.
Special Rules
Once each turn, the Wardancer may leap two spaces in any direction, ignoring
any obstacles in the intermittent space. This counts as one space of movement.
At the start of a turn, the Wardancer may use the dance of Whirling Death. She
gains an additional attack in hand-to-hand against a single opponent, but may
not leave this opponent (nor change maneuvers) until it flees or is defeated.
ENEMY'S WS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
TO HIT FOE 2 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 5 5
-*- WARDANCER ADVANCED PROFILES -*-
Battle Level 2 Wounds: 2D6+7 Wpn./Bal. Skill: 5/6+
Strength/Dice: 3/1 Toughness: 3
Initiative: 6 Attacks: 2
ENEMY'S WS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Luck: 1
TO HIT 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 Will: 2
SKILLS: 1 Pinning: A
Battle Level 3 Wounds: 2D6+7 Wpn./Bal. Skill: 5/6+
Strength/Dice: 4/1 Toughness: 3
Initiative: 7 Attacks: 2
ENEMY'S WS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Luck: 2
TO HIT 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 Will: 3
SKILLS: 1 Pinning: A
Battle Level 4 Wounds: 3D6+7 Wpn./Bal. Skill: 5/5+
Strength/Dice: 4/1 Toughness: 4
Initiative: 7 Attacks: 2
ENEMY'S WS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Luck: 2
TO HIT 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 Will: 3
SKILLS: 2 Pinning: A
Battle Level 5 Wounds: 3D6+7 Wpn./Bal. Skill: 5/5+
Strength/Dice: 4/2 Toughness: 4
Initiative: 8 Attacks: 3
ENEMY'S WS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Luck: 2
TO HIT 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 Will: 3
SKILLS: 2 Pinning: A
Battle Level 6 Wounds: 4D6+7 Wpn./Bal. Skill: 6/5+
Strength/Dice: 4/2 Toughness: 4
Initiative: 8 Attacks: 3
ENEMY'S WS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Luck: 3
TO HIT 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 Will: 3
SKILLS: 3 Pinning: A
Battle Level 7 Wounds: 4D6+7 Wpn./Bal. Skill: 6/4+
Strength/Dice: 4/2 Toughness: 4
Initiative: 9 Attacks: 3
ENEMY'S WS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Luck: 3
TO HIT 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 Will: 3
SKILLS: 3 Pinning: A
Battle Level 8 Wounds: 5D6+7 Wpn./Bal. Skill: 6/4+
Strength/Dice: 4/2 Toughness: 4
Initiative: 9 Attacks: 4
ENEMY'S WS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Luck: 3
TO HIT 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 Will: 3
SKILLS: 4 Pinning: A
Battle Level 9 Wounds: 5D6+7 Wpn./Bal. Skill: 7/4+
Strength/Dice: 4/3 Toughness: 4
Initiative: 9 Attacks: 4
ENEMY'S WS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Luck: 3
TO HIT 2 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 Will: 4
SKILLS: 5 Pinning: A
Battle Level 10 Wounds: 6D6+7 Wpn./Bal. Skill: 7/3+
Strength/Dice: 4/3 Toughness: 4
Initiative: 9 Attacks: 4
ENEMY'S WS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Luck: 4
TO HIT 2 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 Will: 4
SKILLS: 5 Pinning: A
-*- WARDANCER'S SKILLS -*-
The Wardancer has the following skills available to her as she goes up her
Battle-Levels. To determine which specific skill she learns when given the
opportunity roll 2D6.
2 SPIRAL'S COIL
Your enemy leers at you, certain of success against such a comparatively
small and weak opponent, but you retain your cool. Immediately, you begin
to sway and dance about, prompting your enemy to laugh . . . that is, until
he attempts what he thought to be an easy shot with his axe, only to find
it slicing through empty air.
Your Warrior may elect to spend the turn doing the dance of the Spiral
Coil, during which she may take no other action, including movement or attacks.
Your Warrior is impossible to hit with most missiles or hand weapons, though
still vulnerable to spells and other special attacks that affect an entire
area. This effect lasts for the entire turn, and the player may elect to
either continue this dance for the next turn, or take some other action
instead.
3 BALANCE
Approaching the chasm, you easily stroll across on a solitary rope, while
your comrades watch in disbelief.
For any hazard that involves a chance of falling (such as the rope bridge
across the Fire Chasm), the Wardancer may re-roll an unfavorable result, though
she must keep the second result whether better or worse. In addition to this
(and in cases where there is no normal chance to avoid, such as with certain
pit traps) regardless of the former results, the Wardancer may retain her
balance and avoiding falling on a natural roll of 6 on 1D6.
4 WHISPERING WIND
Moving like the wind, you effortlessly slip past your comrades to reach the
enemy, even performing such feats as dancing across their spear-tips in
order to do so.
When moving your Warrior, you may pass through spaces occupied by friendly
models as if they weren't there, so long as your final position leaves your
Warrior's model in an open space.
5 DODGE
Relying on your natural agility, you deftly sidestep the attack.
Whenever an opponent hits your Warrior, your Warrior may attempt to dodge
the blow, causing it to miss completely. On a score of 6 on 1D6 the blow has
no effect.
6 CONCENTRATED ATTACK
Making the most of your finely-honed precision, you focus on bypassing your
target's defenses.
At the start of her turn, your Warrior may elect to use a concentrated
attack instead of any other special maneuvers. On all attacks made this turn,
the Warrior may add +2 to her die rolls to hit, though a natural roll of 1 is
still a miss.
7 TAUNT
Your skill as a performer is not restricted to acts of beauty and grace.
You're also a master at the "art" of the insult, to take advantage of the
carelessness brought upon by anger.
Once per turn, the Wardancer may try to taunt a single Monster. This does
not constitute an action, but may not be used if the Wardancer is employing any
other special maneuvers or dances for this turn. If the Monster fails an
Initiative check, it is so enraged by the Wardancer's verbal jabs that on its
next turn it must attempt to engage the Wardancer in hand-to-hand combat in
preference to all other targets, and may ignore Pinning rules in an attempt to
do so. After this next turn, there is no special effect, though unless the
Adventure Book suggests otherwise (or if the Monster is a Guard), the Monster
will still attack the Wardancer. This may be useful to draw attention away
from badly wounded comrades.
(This ability is useless against the Undead, but it useful against most any
living creature. Creatures that can't understand the Wardancer's language can
still get the point from gestures and tone of voice. Mere animals (such as
Giant Bats, Giant Rats and Giant Spiders) may still be affected, as the Wood
Elves are closely attuned to nature and to beasts.)
8 WOVEN MIST
You bob and sway in an unpredictable yet mesmerizing fashion, dodging blows
while looking for openings in your enemies' defenses.
At the start of her turn, the Wardancer may elect to use the dance of the
Woven Mist instead of any other special maneuvers. For this turn, the
Wardancer may attack normally, but all hand-to-hand or missile attacks against
her only hit on a natural roll of 5 or 6.
9 EVADE
Nimbly stepping to one side, you dodge the incoming axe, flinching slightly
as the razor-sharp blade whistles past your ear and buries itself in the
table next to you.
This skill gives your Warrior the ability to dodge incoming blows by
stepping to one side. If a Monster successfully hits your Warrior, roll 1d6.
On a score of 1, 2, 3 or 4 he hits your Warrior as normal. On a score of a 5
or 6 your Warrior can evade the blow by stepping into any empty adjacent
square. If there are no squares free she must take the blow as normal.
10 TRANSFIX
As your sword flits and darts about, there are momentary flashes at regular
intervals as it reflects the faint light of the lantern. Using this to
great effect, you see the dungeon dweller before you start to slow as he is
entranced by the display.
After the first turn of combat with a given Monster, your Warrior may
attempt to Transfix your opponent in combination with normal attacks (though
this ability cannot be used in combination with other "dances"). If the
Monster fails an Initiative test, it is entranced for one full turn; its roll
to hit are at -1, while your Warriors attacks against it are at +1 to hit and
do an additional Wound of damage per successful strike. If the roll fails,
there is no special effect, but your Warrior may attack as normal.
11 FOREST-WALKER
Brushing aside the undergrowth, you find an almost invisible deer track
leading straight to the next village and cutting a good seven days off the
journey.
This skill allows your Warrior to find almost hidden short cuts in the trek
between dungeons. When travelling to a Settlement, this skill allows your
Warrior to reduce the journey time by one week. In addition, on the journey
she finds enough herbs to make 1D6 healing potions. Each potion restores a
number of Wounds equal to the Wardancer's Battle-Level.
12 PARRY
With a practised maneuver and a deft flick of the wrist you hook your sword
around your enemy's weapon and twist it down and to one side.
This skill allows your Warrior to parry an incoming blow. When your
Warrior is attacked roll 1D6. On a score of 1-5 she must take the blow as
normal. On a score of 6 she turns the blow and it causes no damage.
-*- ADDITIONAL RULES -*-
SETTLEMENTS
A Wardancer may visit the Elf Quarter (since she is an Elf, of course) and any
other areas that the Elf character might visit. If she visits the Alehouse,
she rolls 2D6-2 to determine the results of her visit.
EQUIPMENT AND TREASURE
A Wardancer may use any equipment or treasure items available to the Elf.
PAIRED WEAPONS
The Wardancer is able to use a weapon in each hand, to gain an additional
Attack per Turn. In this case, each weapon must be usable in only one hand,
and a shield cannot be used at the same time. Any reach weapon (which would
allow the Wardancer to Attack in Ranks) would be considered a "two-hand" weapon
for purposes of this ability.
If a Wardancer has a weapon in each hand, she does not have a free hand to
switch to a ranged weapon, to use potions, or other such special actions. To
do so, she would have to drop her weapon (recovering it after all Monsters have
been defeated in the same board section as where it was dropped), or else spend
a Turn sheathing one of her weapons instead of attacking.
MOVEMENT IN WOODS
The Wardancer is a Wood Elf, and therefore is not subject to movement penalties
(typically half movement rate) for moving through wooded areas.
HEALING POTION
The Wardancer starts with a Healing Potion with exactly the same properties as
the one carried by the Elf Warrior.
-*- REPRESENTING YOUR WARRIOR -*-
Citadel miniatures has a number of Wardancer miniatures (as part of the
Wood Elf army) for _Warhammer Fantasy Battle_, representing both genders and
with a variety of armaments. Otherwise, there are countless Elf miniatures
produced by other miniatures companies that would work just fine. Basically, a
Wardancer would be an Elf who travels very lightly, not wearing bulky armor or
elaborate helms. While Wood Elves might typically dress in "woodsy" colors
(browns and greens, primarily), Wardancers have a great deal of variety in
their garb, often in bright colors with imaginative fabric pattern or even body
paint designs. (In short, Wardancers are fun to paint. ;) )
-*- ROLE-PLAYING TIPS -*-
I haven't really found anything that helps me to classify just what a
Wardancer should be like. Many of the illustrations make them look serious and
mysterious, yet their nature as "troubadours" of a sort would seem to suggest
that they might have a lighter side as well. Until someone points out
otherwise, I'll figure that there's a great deal of leeway in how one plays a
Wardancer, and there aren't any handy stereotypes to use as guidelines.
Roughly, Wardancers are Elven acrobat-warriors. They should be adept at
performing feats of acrobatic prowess, and the GM should keep this in mind for
situations that require Initiative tests.
-*- DISCLAIMERS AND SUCH -*-
_Games Workshop_, _Knights Panther_, the _Old World_, _Skaven_, _Warhammer
Quest_, _Warhammer Fantasy Battle_, _Battle Magic_, _Talisman_ and _Advanced
HeroQuest_ are trademarks of Games Workshop, Ltd. Their use here does not
constitute a legal challenge to trademark status. This article is copyright
1995 by T. Jordan "Greywolf" Peacock, though it may be freely distributed in
unaltered form, so long as proper credit is given and no fees are charged for
its use.
If you'd like to contact me for whatever reason, you can write to me at:
Jordan Peacock
1610 Parker
Cedar Falls, IA 50613
-*- HAPPY QUESTING! -*-